"You're not used to the longevity of the season, your body isn't adjusted to going this long," said Okoye, who has started 11 of 12 games.

The time to catch a second wind is now, and don't think the Texans are taking it easy on Okoye. At 5-7 and with four games left this season, the first on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Reliant Stadium, the injury-riddled Texans need everyone available to be at their best if they are to have a chance to finish with a decent record.

"He can play better," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "I'm expecting him to up his level of play the next month, but I think he's on his way to being a heck of a football player."

No wonder defensive line coach Jethro Franklin is keeping Okoye working long after practice is over.

"We know as a team we need everyone, and whether you hit the wall or not, that's no excuse," Franklin said. "We don't allow that to factor in; we have to coach through it.

"Like I tell the guys all the time, I told them today, you're either getting better or you're getting worse. Nothing stays the same. He's out here, he's working hard, we just have to not give in to that wall syndrome. When a guy hits the wall, you've got to push him harder."

Jethro Franklin seems like someone to hang your hat on :cowboy1: hope he stays with his boyz awhile overseeing their complete development, then elevated to DC. I think he is missing one more piece to the puzzle- specificly a competitive RDE w/big play ability, the right one would put Okoye & Co. over the top, right now opponents are able to lock down the rookie while Mario has transformed into a beast @ LDE. just imagine a sack machine coming hard from the right side how it would balance the attack :d:

Rex King

12-08-2007 02:50 PM

Re: Okoye hitting 'rookie wall'

Yep. Again, two of his sacks against the Tacks came from him playing on the left. There was a discussion in the offseason about whether Mario should play next to Amobi (it was more with the assumption that Mario would be weakside DE and where Amobi would go) or whether they should create havoc from both sides of the line. But the best they've looked was when they were lined up together and stunting.